Can Period Delay Hamper Your Ovulation Cycle?
Recently on an online forum a bride-to-be asked if there would be any long term side effects from taking period delay tablets. In the hustle and bustle of getting ready for her big day, she realized a few days before her wedding and honeymoon that she was due to get her period. Not wanting to have to deal with her period during this joyous time, she thought period delay treatment would be her best bet, but only if there were no long-term effects on her ovulation cycle or fertility.
What Is Period Delay Treatment?
Each ovulation cycle, the uterus builds up lining to prepare for a fertilized egg. If fertilization does not happen, this lining is shed and creates what is known as menstrual blood.
Period delay tablets are a progestogen medication that have a synthetic form of the female sex hormone progesterone. By keeping progesterone levels up, the uterus will not shed its lining so a period will not occur.
A commonly used period delay tablet is Norethisterone. When taken three days before menstruation is due to start, it can delay a period by up to 17 days depending on how long it is taken for. It is a short-term medication that is taken until menstruation is no longer unwanted.
Why Delay Your Period?
Sometimes having to deal with your period, its side effects, and everything else that goes with it is just not convenient. This is especially true if you have a big event planned like a wedding or honeymoon like the bride mentioned above. Other occasions like holidays, a big date, surgeries, or some religious events are not very conducive to that time of the month either.
What Are the Side Effects of Period Delay Treatment?
In the short term, a woman taking period delay tablets may experience nausea, breast swelling or tenderness, fatigue, or headaches. Once you stop taking Norethisterone tablets, your period should start within a few days. There are no indications that there should be any impact on your normal ovulation cycle after this. Studies have also shown that there is no long-term effect on fertility.
If you need to delay your period, you can buy Period Delay Tablets online in the UK through Pharmacy Planet. They have period delay treatment like Norethisterone Tablets that they can send right to your doorstep.
Authored By
HARMINDER ‘HARMY’ KAUR
BSc(hons) Pharmacy
GPhC Number: 2061107
Reviewed By
GURDEV SEHMI
BSc Pharm, MRPharmS, Independent Prescriber, Superintendent Pharmacist, Clinical Lead
GPhC Number: 2050925